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Published in April by Kwela Books, London-Cape Town-Joburg by Zukiswa Wanner was written in three weeks. Here's the synopsis via Kwela Books: 


“I would’ve been able to live like this if Zuko hadn’t been born . . . London was good. Is good. I love London. But . . .”

1994
The world is about to change. The first truly democratic election in South Africa’s history is about to unite Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation at the ballot box. And, across the world, those in exile, those who could not return home, those who would not return home, wait. Watch and wait . . .

London
Martin O’Malley isn’t one of those watching and waiting. He is too busy trying to figure out if Germaine Spencer really is the girl for him and why his best friend is intent on ruining every relationship he gets involved in. And then . . . And then Germaine is pregnant and suddenly the world really has changed for Martin O’Malley.

South Africa
A land of opportunity. A place where a young black man with an MSc from the London School of Economics could have it all, would have it all. But what does Martin O’Malley, London born and bred with an Irish surname, really know about his mother’s country? His motherland. A land he has never seen.


Out September 2014 and published by Pantheon, The Moor's Account by Moroccan author, Laila Lalami, has been described as 'a stunning piece of historical fiction: the imagined memoirs of the New World's first explorer of African descent, a Moroccan slave known as Estebanico. Here's a short piece from Laila Lalami explaining where the idea for the novel came from and a synopsis via Amazon:

In 1527, Pánfilo de Narváez sailed from Spain with a crew of six hundred men, intending to claim for the Spanish crown what is now the Gulf Coast of the United States. But from the moment the expedition reached Florida, it met with ceaseless bad luck—storms, disease, starvation, hostile natives—and within a year there were only four survivors, including the young explorer Andrés Dorantes and his slave, Estebanico. 
After six years of enslavement by Native Americans, the four men escaped and wandered through what is now Florida, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. 

The Moor’s Account brilliantly captures Estebanico’s voice and vision, giving us an alternate narrative for this famed expedition. As this dramatic chronicle unfolds, we come to understand that, contrary to popular belief, black men played a significant part in New World exploration, and that Native American men and women were not merely silent witnesses to it. In Laila Lalami’s deft hands, Estebanico’s memoir illuminates the ways in which stories can transmigrate into history, even as storytelling can offer a chance at redemption and survival.



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In July, Faber & Faber will be reissuing The Palm-Wine Drinkard, Amos Tutuola's debut novel - first published by Faber in 1952 - along with the release of Tutuola's complete works into ebook for the first time. 

The Palm-Wine Drinkard is the story of an alcoholic man and his search for his dead wine tapper. As he travels through the land of the dead, he encounters a host of supernatural and often terrifying beings - among them the 'complete gentleman' who returns his body parts to their owners and the insatiable 'hungry-creature'. Mixing Yoruba folktales with what T.S.Eliot described as a 'creepy crawly imagination', The Palm-Wine Drinkard is regarded as the seminal work of African literature.

Amos Tutuola was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 1920. The son of a cocoa farmer, he attended several school before training as a blacksmith. He later worked as a civil servant. His first novel, The Palm-Wine Drinkard, brought him international recognition. From 1956 until retirement, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company while continuing to write. His last book, The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories, was published in 1990. He died in Ibadan in 1997.

Also available in paperback from Faber & Faber: The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories; Pauper, Brawler and Slanderer; The Brave African Huntress; The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town; My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.  Such pretty covers ... and I kinda want them all.


 


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This Thursday (June 5, 2014) at 11am GMT, James Murua will be hosting an African Author Google Hangout discussion centred on crime and crime fiction. The following authors will be joining the discussion and will discuss crime and its sleuths, the authors motivations and more. There will also be a chance for Q&As with the audience:


From L-R: Hawa Golakai, Kinyanjui
Kombani, Richard Crompton
  • Kenyan-based English author, Richard Crompton, whose debut novel The Honey Guide(UK)/Hour of the Red God (US) was published in 2013. Set in Nairobi against the backdrop of the turbulent 2007 elections, The Honey Guide is said to introduce a truly unforgettable leading character in crime fiction - Mollel, a Maasai police detective.
  • Cape Town based Liberian author, HJ Golakai whose debut novel The Lazarus Effect centres on Voinjama "Vee" Johnson, a journalist and Liberian migrant investigating the disappearance of a teenager. 
  • Kenyan, Kinyanjui Kombani, whose novelThe Last Villians of Molo, is told against the backdrop of the 1992 ethnic clashes in Kenya and five friends who have fleed the violence and fin themselves in the slums. 
This looks like an interesting forum that will stimulate conversations about the African crime fiction genre. The hangout address will be publicised closer to the event, but you can join the discussions on Twitter using #AAGH #AfroCrimeFiction, or chat with the authors Richard Crompton (@racrompton) and Kinyanjui Kombani (@KKombani). Read more on James Murua's blog. 



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Almost a month ago, Africa is a Country published this fascinating article - The Dangers of a Single Book Cover: The Acacia Tree Meme and 'African literature'. In it, they credit Simon Stevens: 
' ... a reader who put together the picture [below] and pointed out that whoever you are, wherever you're from, whatever kind of writing you do, if you write a novel "about Africa, " chances are you're going to get the acacia tree treatment. And the orange sky.'
Source: Africa is a Country (via Simon Stevens)
The same article also points out that: 
'Another reader, Alice Kewellhampton, added that when it comes to Chimamanda Adichie, she also gets a special meme for her UK edition, the "soulful-black-woman-with-colourful-smudges" look.' 
Without sounding like a broken record, I found the article, and the accompanying images, fascinating and loved it for getting me to question the world of African book covers. I mean, until the article pointed it out I never thought of it. A number of articles followed on after this main one - Why do all these books about Africa look the same?, The reason why every book about Africa has the same cover - and it's not pretty, Need a cover for a your book about Africa? Just add an acacia tree - to name a few.

The book desgins if I am being honest make me pretty sad when I look at them. As someone who judges books by their covers, they do not inpsire me to pick up or even read them. So I went to look at my bookshelf to see how many acacia covered books I have and then went to look at my Tumblr to do the same - not surprising little or none of both (hence, why I probably never noticed the acacia tree treatment). 

While I do not doubt that we are in the age of the acacia tree, or even the "soulful-black-woman-with-colourful-smudges" look in the UK, I also think we should ask ourselves the regions these book are marketed for and what they say about those regions view of 'Africa'? As I have pointed out in earlier posts, there are different book cover designs for different regions and would be interesting to know who these covers are for.

I also wanted to step away from the single acacia tree book cover and decided to take screenshots of the covers I love, and have showcased on my Tumblr, to show that there are some publishers and designers out there that are not afraid to do something different. Nnedi Okorafor's Lagoon cover is beautiful. So is Noo Saro-Wiwa's Looking for Transwonderland. I loved the SA covers of The Shining Girls, as well as  Zoo City and Moxyland - actually I love the covers of Lauren Beukes' novels. Modjaji Books also publishes some beautiful books. These covers, might not be in abundance, but they do exist and they give me hope that there is more to African Book Covers than the Acacia Tree.  

Mostly Abani and one Achebe: The first set of book covers I showcased on African Book Covers
A range of different book cover designs
Hello 'soulful black woman' 
A look at some of the Caine Prize Anthology covers
The most recent covers showcased on African Book Covers
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About me

Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.

bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.

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